Given China's ongoing volatility and commodity prices for iron ore and coal well below long-run averages, gold is underpinning many hopes at present and providing the only tangible ''good news'' story.
Another relevant snapshot at the annual conference of the New Zealand branch of the Australian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (AusIMM) in Wellington is the low number of delegates attending this year - just 180 - the cancellation of most field trips and even the lack of protesters.
The weather also conspired to postpone the arrival of Resources Minister Simon Bridges at the conference, and he was rescheduled for this morning.
Campbell Macpherson director Tony Haworth reviewed the past 18 months of the resource sector, posing the question whether globally, commodity prices had ''bottomed out in the cycle''.
''Commodity prices have stabilised and are showing signs of lifting ... equities are up 28% for first-half 2016,'' he said.
Gold had ''outperformed'' all the base metal commodities, having traded up 20% during the past year in a range of $NZ1800-$NZ1900.
''Coal and iron ore are still in the doldrums ... China demand is lifting but is still subdued,'' Mr Haworth said.
He noted that globally in 2015 there were only 13 initial public offerings (IPOs) for new companies, totalling $US300million ($NZ409.82million), and so far this year capital-raising had been slow.
Another indicator, mergers and acquisitions, was down to a decade low of $US40billion.
Gold was being ''chased hardest'' around the world, with a global spend of $US9billion but that was a poor comparison with the $US20billion spent in 2012.
''The move away from grassroots exploration might be shortsighted,'' Mr Haworth said.
Although East Otago-based Oceana Gold, which now owns the Waihi mine, contributed more than 90% of New Zealand's annual gold production, delivering about 408,000oz last year, Mr Haworth highlighted small alluvial (loose) gold companies had increased production 17% last year, contributing 42,000oz.
On coal mining, he said production was down 15% to 3.4 million tonnes, and exports had plunged 21% to 1.4 million tonnes, noting ''underground mining is almost extinct''.
Despite the sobering outlook, Mr Haworth said mining had ''roughly doubled'' its contribution to the economy since 1966, with coal and aggregates declining over time, but metals, and gold in particular, climbing from just 8900oz in 1966 to about 450,000oz last year.
However, he noted the ''collapse'' of lime production for agriculture, on the back of the dairy downturn, down 50% to less than 1 million tonnes.
Looking ahead, Mr Haworth said iron sand and phosphate from seabed mining held opportunities, and although coal was out of favour, there would be a need for it for some time.
He said that in decades ahead new technology might be able to unlock lignite as an acceptable energy source.
He also noted ''new minerals for the global green economy'', such as lithium for new-generation batteries, could attract further investment, and work by Crown Research Institutes.
Matt Freeman, editor of industry website Inside Resources, painted a more upbeat picture of the sector in New Zealand, especially in gold, highlighting brownfields test drilling programmes by Oceana at Waihi and Macraes, and also proposals to drill near Waihi, in the central North Island.
Mr Freeman noted the arrival during the past year of ''offshore-backed'' companies Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining.
''The established players of the West Coast [seeking alluvial gold] and Otago all increased activity levels during the year and looked for new ground,'' he said in a statement.
Ilana Miller, national manager for New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals, the Government agency responsible for the sector's rules and regulations, similarly had a ''positive outlook'' for the industry, largely on the back of gold. But she cautioned new discoveries were the key for the long term.
''There's a need to identify greenfield resources ... to create a pipeline for sustained growth,'' Mrs Miller said.
NZP&M had completed 25,000sq km of aeromagnetic surveying over Nelson and Marlborough, and 5200sq km over Otago and Southland, with interim data out now.
She said the aeromagnetic surveys of North Otago and South Canterbury would start this month, with results due by about mid-2017.
Although would-be small miners in the South were complaining of the workload imposed on them by NZP&M's permit regime, Mrs Miller said yesterday that last year 24% of permits were done online, and for the last quarter of 2016 that had risen to 34%.
''The more [applicants] that take up that system, the more efficient we can be,'' she said.
On the question of fees, Mrs Miller said they had not gone up for 10 years.
Simon Hartley is sponsored to the conference by AusIMM
